The Spatialworlds blog has spent a lot of time advocating the use of spatial technology in the classroom and in particular the need to
embrace GIS as part of teaching and learning in the geography classroom. However
this posting explores the possibility that there could be a downside of all-pervasive presence and omnipresent use of spatial technology in our society. Such a proposition is highly relevant to the
use of spatial technology in the classroom. The proposition is that the very
technology which has popularised and democratised geography in the community
may very well be deskilling the population geographically. No longer does one
have to read a map or street directory; just use your GPS or Google Map to get there
or find a place. Could this be deskilling the population to the extent that
people will no longer understand or know how to read a map. Is this a problem?
Many of us drive a car and have no idea how the engine works, play a CD and
have no idea how the music is created etc etc.
However some would argue that in schools students should have
an understanding of how ‘maps work’ and not just use them. They go on to
argue that students, to really have spatial understanding, need to know, for example,
how a cross section is constructed and how to read a grid reference and that these are
necessary spatial literacy skills for a student. So what some say is busy
geography lessons; drawing maps by hand, constructing cross sections and
plotting reference points may still have a place in a geography class despite the
plethora of just a ‘click away’ spatial technology so readily available for the
classroom these days.

A recent blog posting by a GPS marketing firm affirmed what I
had been thinking on the matter. The posting
asked us "not to eliminate older technologies in our haste to embrace the shiny and new". The posting is naturally pro-technology but suggests that we must keep "an assortment of paper maps readily available" in case the "tracking systems down, natural or terrorist events occur, Sun Spot activities interfere with the satellites, nuclear explosion, civil unrest or roadworks requiring a detour (GPS does not know about that)" - yes, we get the idea; technology is not fool proof but any fool should be able to read a map to get to safety.

"Technology is great but it should never be a replacement for skills but a tool used to assist you."

The danger is that it has become too simple to listen to your GPS or read your IPhone Maps to get to a place and there is no need to use paper maps. We are becoming a society lacking basic mapping skills and the associated spatial literacy capacities. The very technology built on amazing spatial understanding could be creating a spatially illiterate society with citizens being prepared to be a slave to the voice on their GPS or blue dot on their IPhone and not think for themselves using maps. .

Schools should use spatial technology so that students are aware of the power, functionality and applications of the technology. With caution I am also arguing that students should have the capacity to use maps in a practical sense to have an understanding of the underlying basics of maps so that they can use the technology judiciously and even be able to survive without the technology if the need arises. Both are basic spatial citizenship skills. We must be careful "not to throw the baby out with the bath water!" Postscript: Ironically a week after this posting, Apple released IPhone 5 with the subsequent controversy related to the new Apple Maps. Apple had replaced Google Maps on the IPhone with their new Apple Maps. That is an interesting industrial story in itself but what was really interesting is that these new maps were found to have significant problems with accuracy and representation. Apple quickly withdrew the new maps with the damage not only done to the IPhone but also to public trust in the accuracy of spatial technology. Maybe this was a good thing! Maybe the public will realise that they should always have some spatial literacy skills and understanding of geography as they use these wonderful technology tools.

This newly
released interactive feature allows students of all ages to see the global
interconnections in their lives. By analyzing the items in our closets
(or any of the items that we consume), we can easily see that our own
personal geographies create a web of global interconnectedness.

If the world were
100 people, who would we be? The 100 People Project attempts to paint a
portrait of the world population through video, photography, and other
educational media. We're asking the children of the world to introduce us to
the people of the world. Help us make the world portrait!

A great example of the power of maps (GIS) to unravel electiontrends in the past and now. Very relevant as
election news hots up in the US and Australia.* The New World 2012Interactive maps of the New World from the New York Times.

* World population distribution and location
These attractive infographics depict the distribution of the 2008 world's population based on longitude
and latitude. Beautiful depictions of
population density around the world.

As
I have discussed in previous postings, there is a need to articulate
clearly to non-geographers in particular what geographer actually is.
That is, to be able to explain what makes geography geography.
One of the invaluable lessons I have learnt from being involved in the
development of the ACARA Australian Curriculum: Geography is the
opportunity to clarify my thoughts on what geographical thinking is.
The development of the key concepts of the Australian Curriculum: Geography has been invaluable in 'nailing down' geographical thinking. Everything can be studied geographically through the key concepts - hence every topic is a potential resource for geography classrooms.

I
hope the resource will be a useful part of the implementation and
associated professional learning for the Australian Curriculum:
Geography and any other country teaching geography in schools.

If you wish to have a copy of the interactive 'Thinking Geographically' DVD just download the order form
or email me at manning@chariot.net.au and I will forward the DVD to
you. Hopefully it will hit the mark with professional learning on
thinking geographically.

The Internet has an amazing capacity to support teachers sharing ideas
and resources. There is so much activity happening 24/7 on the Internet - this
fact was really brought home to me last weekend at the GTAV conference when the
site called “60 seconds on the Internet” was showcased. It is heartening that a
tiny part of all this activity is helping geography teachers to share and improve
their knowledge and access to resources. I would like to think that blogs such
as Spatialworlds, with Twitter, Google Groups and Google docs presentations are
all going towards an interconnected and collegiate environment of sharing for
geography teachers on a global scale.

The
following sites from the UK certainly show that sharing is alive and well
amongst UK geography teachers:

Whilst on free resources on the Internet to help support the teaching
of 21st Century Geography, have a look at the Google Earth Official YouTube Channel to learn
and share. Google Earth lets you fly
anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, from
galaxies in outer space to the canyons of the ocean. You can explore rich
geographical content, save your toured places, and share with others. While talking about Google Earth, go to Google Earth lessons for
some amazing ideas.

These are just a few examples of sharing of resources on the
Internet. I am sure it will only
increase as Twitter and other Internet sharing programs gain currency and
popularity amongst geography teachers (even those currently computer illiterate).

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Image above: Mannum Waterfall in South Australia (rarely with water these days but once upon a time it would have been a raging torrent). This geomorphology paradise is 70 kms outside of Adelaide on the way to Mannum on the River Murray. The rocks are at the edge of the Southern Australian Batholith with Migmatites prevalent. The waterfall has been a favourite fieldtrip location for geography and geology students in South Australia for many years.

As a repository of websites and other resources
to be used for geography teaching, this website frequently points teachers in
the direction of websites. Most of these websites are not established for the
classroom and may not have the quality assurances (QA) that educational sites would have.
Naturally, websites from creditable organisations such as National Geographic
and Government bodies would have undergone significant quality assurance (but
still may be biased towards the governments or organisations goals/agenda).
Recently I sent out a website called "History of conflicts". Thankfully
we all don't just take for granted what the website represents. In this case I
was alerted by a colleague that there was some inaccurate information on the
site. Hence this posting on critical literacy. Whenever we get a website
to use we should put it through the QA test and ask some tough questions in
respect to origin, agenda, data accuracy and representational appropriateness.

Being
critical may be defined as a challenging approach to the reliability,
usefulness and bias of a source. It involves the questioning and
challenging of the data, representations, attitudes, values and beliefs that lie beneath the surface
of a source, in this case, geographically orientated websites.

To be
critical is often associated with being negative or finding fault unreasonably
but being critical should focus on:

How do the opinions
reflected in this information compare to that of other groups?

What are the values and
attitudes implicit in this information?

To ask
these questions is to be critical in a positive evaluative way.

Credibility being something that is credible
and is worthy of being believed because it has a high degree of accuracy. Some
sources of information are more creditable than others. Newspapers and
magazines vary greatly in their credibility as do television programs and the
Internet. No source can be totally creditable; each has a degree of credibility
which must be acknowledged and discussed to explain how it effects the
conclusions.

Bias being the misrepresentation of
information to create a distorted view that could create opinions that are not
credible. Much of the information we receive is biased in some way. It may not be so much what data is a website but rather what is missing. Taking a
particular point of view and disregarding all other perspectives is a form of
bias as is leaving parts of information out. It is always
important to identify whose point of view or data is not represented, and why it is not
presented in any information that you have.

Some sites to critique

Have a practice on some of these sites. Are they creditable, objective and accurate. How would one know? At least we have to ask the questions!

TerraMar
is comprised of a globally representative group of experts, NGOs and citizens
whose mission is to protect the ocean for generations to come. We are members
of the High Seas Alliance & The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition.

Polling data in which
people were asked what factor shaped their acceptance of climate change. new paper that dives into extensive polling data to find out
how people perceive different trends in the climate.

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Who am I?

I have taught history, geography and civics and citizenship in the South Australian education system since 1976. I have been actively involved in the promotion of geography and history over the years, in particular the use of spatial technology in schools. I am a Past Chair of the Australian Geography Teachers' Association (Chair 2008-13) and Immediate Past President of the Australian Alliance of Associations in Education (2013-present). During the development of the Australian Curriculum: Geography I was a member of the ACARA Advisory Panel (2009-2013) and Executive Director of the ESA GeogSpace project. From 2007-2011 and in 2015 I was the Manager for the Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) in the South Australian Department for Education and Child Development (DECD). Presently I am a Teaching Academic in HaSS Education at the University of South Australia and the Manager for the Premier's ANZAC Spirit School Prize in DECD.